HE was part of one of the biggest bands of the noughties and had been used to performing to sell-out crowds around the country.
But by 2015, things were very different for Liberty X star Kevin Simm as he stood outside in “the freezing cold” digging holes for a fencing company.
Kevin had fallen on hard times when the group – most famous for UK No 1 Just A Little Bit – split in 2007 and his solo career hadn’t gone to plan.
To support his wife Laura and two children Charlie, 12, and Oliver, ten,the self-confessed “grafter” had tried a number of normal jobs including working as an electrician, a fencer and a wedding photographer between occasional singing gigs.
Kevin, now 43, tells us: “When Liberty X finished I had no idea what to do. I didn’t know how to get gigs. It was strange coming out of a big pop group and having to start again.
“I was singing in pubs and clubs for £150 a gig but there wasn’t a lot of work going around and typically it was only Friday or Saturday night.
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“Then sometimes I’d get a call the night before saying the gig was cancelled and that’s half of your income for the week gone.
“I ended up trying to work as an electrician, a fencer, and a wedding photographer because I got frustrated with the insecurity of the singing.
“I thought, ‘Why not try some other things where you know you will get paid at the end of the week’. I had a family so it was doubly important to put food on the table.
“If I was good enough at them, I would have continued but I’m not a skilled worker and knew I would never be at that level where I was happy.”
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